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A review by lyakimov
Out of the Ashes by Kara Thomas
3.0
This book was fine, but not really memorable because the story didn't feel necessarily unique compared to other books in this genre. The twist at the end about the identity of the killer of Sam's family was so out of place. So her dad killed the whole family and the baby daddy and faked his own death, and then ran away with Lyndsey who he knows is not his biological child and starts a new life and had a whole other wife and kids?? And the reason he did all this was because the mom was going to take the daughters and leave him because he admitted to the mom that he helped cover up the murder of that Polish girl. Like...what. We really had so little information on the dad other than mostly nice things but also that he was a flawed human being - he was kind, he took care of people and helped others, but sometimes had a temper - but it seemed WAY out of nowhere to help hide a body of a murdered woman and then kill his whole family in a panic and take his baby and fake their deaths. It just didn't seem fathomable since we had so little information on the dad, it was just weird like that twist just didn't sit well.
Also, the story about Sam's foster uncle Gil being a veteran but in reality her parents lied and he was not even overseas? What was the reason for that, I think that's a pretty ridiculous lie if all there is to it is that he had to relocate for a new job because he got fired. Who makes up that kind of excuse instead of just telling Sam "he relocated for a new job." Such an easy thing to say! I don't understand that. And then...there is the man Detective Steven Rhodes who is the ultimate dirty cop/villain and then...nothing really happens with him by the end of the book?? Great. I am frustrated how a lot of the plot points just kind of go nowhere or are explained as irrelevant later on (and were included in the story solely to confuse the reader so that they can't guess who the real killer was until the lackluster end-of-book reveal). When I got to the murderer reveal, I had to rewind the audiobook like 3 times because I truly didn't get that they were saying the dad was the killer. I was like "no, that's impossible, they aren't talking about the dad because that makes no sense" but I was wrong. And also, all the Ealy family KNEW??? All need to be in JAIL!!!
The very end with Sam going to meet Lyndsey but not saying anything much to her and then thinking "well she's going to find out soon and her whole life will be ruined" well that's so great, and that is an extremely lackluster ending because we don't even see Lyndsey find out?? There's not really a reunion, it just is weird. I needed a little more than that to wrap up the book, and it almost seems like it's open-ended for a sequel even though that's unlikely, just because of how weirdly sudden the book ends and how many things haven't been concluded.
Also, the story about Sam's foster uncle Gil being a veteran but in reality her parents lied and he was not even overseas? What was the reason for that, I think that's a pretty ridiculous lie if all there is to it is that he had to relocate for a new job because he got fired. Who makes up that kind of excuse instead of just telling Sam "he relocated for a new job." Such an easy thing to say! I don't understand that. And then...there is the man Detective Steven Rhodes who is the ultimate dirty cop/villain and then...nothing really happens with him by the end of the book?? Great. I am frustrated how a lot of the plot points just kind of go nowhere or are explained as irrelevant later on (and were included in the story solely to confuse the reader so that they can't guess who the real killer was until the lackluster end-of-book reveal). When I got to the murderer reveal, I had to rewind the audiobook like 3 times because I truly didn't get that they were saying the dad was the killer. I was like "no, that's impossible, they aren't talking about the dad because that makes no sense" but I was wrong. And also, all the Ealy family KNEW??? All need to be in JAIL!!!
The very end with Sam going to meet Lyndsey but not saying anything much to her and then thinking "well she's going to find out soon and her whole life will be ruined" well that's so great, and that is an extremely lackluster ending because we don't even see Lyndsey find out?? There's not really a reunion, it just is weird. I needed a little more than that to wrap up the book, and it almost seems like it's open-ended for a sequel even though that's unlikely, just because of how weirdly sudden the book ends and how many things haven't been concluded.